June 26, 2008

Is Justin Learning...Or Am I?

Seriously, I dont see why Justin Trudeau still thinks I am out to get him. As I am quickly learning in journalism school, people like Justin Trudeau are a reporter's dream. Why? Because he speaks in printable quotes.

I know the criticism during the nomination was a little rough, but I came around and so did many of my former Liberal colleagues. The way Justin works the riding and with the name recognition in the ethnic areas, Vivianne Barbot will have ALOT of trouble holding on there. I spoke to some Bloc people over the St. Jean holiday as well. They are quite worried...

Looks like the Liberals may just pick up Quebec seats after all...

I asked Justin about what the fete nationale means to him. Like many of the events in his riding, Justin was celebrating his ethnic heritage, (in his case French Canadian) and he was doing so by stylishly wearing a ceinture flechee, traditional garb of the coureurs de bois right out of your grade 10 Canadian history books... (I wore a ceinture flechee during the debate outside radio canada in 2006. The separatists were wondering why only the Liberals had them and they didnt haha...good times)

Separatists believe that the ceinture flechee is a symbol for them, but really, being French Canadian and being separatist are not the same thing, and besides, the belt was around long before French Canadians had anything to separate from.

Here are Justin's quotes by the way, just for Braeden and Dan Arnold... (the second one is slightly edited for gramattical coherence, I have it on tape)

"There is less of a branding of this as a separatist holiday and there is much more of a redefined “nous” that Pauline Marois is struggling with. We are proud to be Quebecers, proud of our identity and proud to celebrate this holiday like anyone else."

"It is a francophone celebration. There is a sentiment of Quebec identity in the traditional aspects of it; a lot of the folkloric Quebec fiddle music, although last night we even saw some hip hop and Maghreb rap. There is more of a celebration of where we are going as a plural community than there is a singular identity that for so long has colored Quebec."